James Mclamore, Burger King Corp. Founder, Dies At 70

Other news to note - Deaths

August 9, 1996

CORAL GABLES — James Whitman McLamore, a founder of Burger King Corp., died Thursday of cancer at age 70.

''He was not just the co-founder of our company, he was the heart of it,'' Burger King chairman Robert Lowes said. ''Jim's passion for the business made him a pioneer that others to this day try to emulate.''

McLamore and Dave Edgarton opened Insta Burger King in Miami in 1954 and went on to create the broiled Whopper, now consumed at the rate of 2 million a day. The pair sold the business to Pillsbury in 1967. It now is part of Britain's Grand Metropolitan PLC.

Born in New York City on May 30, 1926, McLamore got into the restaurant business at age 24, running a 14-seat counter in Miami.

The hamburger restaurant opened in 1954, and McLamore and Edgarton dropped Insta from the name in 1957, the same year the Whopper was introduced. Television advertising came a year later, and early franchising pushed the company to a national stage.

McLamore served as Burger King's president until 1970 and remained as chairman until 1976.